Add Update Column Versus Update Attribute as a rails til

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ smart people at [Hashrocket](http://hashrocket.com/).
 For a steady stream of TILs from a variety of rocketeers, checkout
 [til.hashrocket.com](https://til.hashrocket.com/).
 
-_845 TILs and counting..._
+_846 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -531,6 +531,7 @@ _845 TILs and counting..._
 - [Show Rails Models With Pry](rails/show-rails-models-with-pry.md)
 - [Show Rails Routes With Pry](rails/show-rails-routes-with-pry.md)
 - [Truncate Almost All Tables](rails/truncate-almost-all-tables.md)
+- [Update Column Versus Update Attribute](rails/update-column-versus-update-attribute.md)
 - [Where Am I In The Partial Iteration?](rails/where-am-i-in-the-partial-iteration.md)
 
 ### React

rails/update-column-versus-update-attribute.md

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Update Column Versus Update Attribute
+
+Rails offers a whole variety of methods for making updates to the ActiveRecord
+objects in your app. Two unique, infrequently-used ones are
+[`#update_column`](https://devdocs.io/rails~5.2/activerecord/persistence#method-i-update_column)
+and
+[`#update_attribute`](https://devdocs.io/rails~5.2/activerecord/persistence#method-i-update_attribute).
+What is unique about them is that they are both ways of updating a record while
+skipping the validations defined on the model.
+
+So, how do they differ?
+
+A call to `#update_attribute` is still going to trigger any callbacks defined
+on the model and it will touch the `update_at` column. On the other hand,
+`#update_column` can be thought of as a way of directly interacting with the
+database -- callbacks are skipped and you are truly only touching the specified
+column, `updated_at` is left as is.
+
+The docs have this recommendation for `#update_attribute`:
+
+> This is especially useful for boolean flags on existing records.
+
+And for `#update_column`, they say this:
+
+> This is the fastest way to update attributes because it goes straight to the
+> database, but take into account that in consequence the regular update
+> procedures are totally bypassed.
+
+These are both useful in specific situations, but be sure to know their
+differences and to use them with caution.